Morning Briefing: Stocks lower on weak global trade report

Morning Briefing: Stocks lower on weak global trade report

Stocks lower on weak global trade report
Global stock markets are generally lower so far Monday as a weak report on world trade was exacerbated by poor data on Chinese exports.

The OECD says that it believes world trade has dropped to levels near to those normally associated with a global recession but that countries are taking steps to reverse the decline. The organization’s report comes as China reported a 6.9 per cent decline in October’s exports compared to a year earlier.

The expected global growth forecast by the OECD was revised downwards to 2.9 per cent for 2015, from 3.0 per cent in September with world trade down to 2 per cent. It called the figures “deeply concerning” but expects global output growth to hit 3.3 per cent in 2016 and noted that policy decisions being taken by countries including China should help ease the weakness.

China allows IPOs again
A ban on IPOs imposed four months ago in China has been lifted. State media says that there could now be as many as 28 offerings before the end of the year. The stock markets in China have recovered from the rout earlier in the year which caused panic around the world as Shanghai went into freefall.